Press release: 14th March 2017
Lymington brothers head out to the Needles in training for
their Atlantic Ocean charity challenge, in memory of their father
Jude, aged 17 and Greg, aged 26 are brothers from Lymington who
are raising money for the British Skin Foundation following the
death of their father, Peter, who tragically died of skin cancer in
2015. The brave teenager and his older brother will be rowing
unaccompanied across the Atlantic Ocean in January of 2018 in his
memory.
In the past few days the brothers have been consolidating their
training on the ocean in a similar boat to the one they will be using
for their record-breaking trip. Their boat will cost £55,000 to build
and the brothers are currently seeking a partner to cover the cost of
the boat and trip, which will total £90,000.
L-R: Jude & Greg – Lymington Harbour
The brothers training took place around the Isle of Wight in the
Solent in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. They were
accompanied by RNLI lifeboat man and MD of Gemini Marine, Mr
Jon Chittock also an ex-paratrooper officer who is right behind the
brothers and generously supported them for two days with a
support boat.
L-R: Jude & Greg – The Needles, I.O.W
An early 4:30am start is routine Jude explained, “Everyday that we
are out training we get more excited to set off from Gran Canaria
and head out into the Atlantic but it was particularly special today to
come so close the Needles,” - one of the UKs most well known
landmarks. Greg explained, “It was truly spectacular to have the
charity down with us as we rowed past the stacks of chalk. We will
be living and surviving on a tiny boat like this for 11 weeks rowing
continuously 24 hours per day and at the grace of whatever storms
the Atlantic decides to throw at us.”
The boys are now well into their training regimen headed up by
Guinness world record-breaking ocean rower and ex GB
international rower Chris Martin, MD of New Ocean Wave. Their
land based training balances a mix of cardiovascular fitness and
strength-based training combing frequent two-hour sessions on the
rowing machine. The brothers are packing on the calories in
preparation for the 20% body mass they will lose as they cross the
second largest ocean in the world.
The brothers have launched a campaign to raise £100,000 for the
British Skin Foundation – a charity that funds skin cancer research –
whilst also raising awareness of the dangers of skin cancer. All
donations will solely go towards skin cancer research grants.
L-R: Jude & Greg – Lymington Slipway
Peter Massey – Off of Ryde I.O.W
Peter, Jude father and Greg’s stepfather, suffered with the disease which kills at least seven people a day in
the UK and is the most common cancer. Jude said, “It was tough losing my Dad at age 16 whilst sitting my
GCSEs and he really suffered with a lot of pain towards the end.” Greg said, “It’s a cancer which can affect
people of all ages and will have touched the lives of many families as much as it has deeply touched our
own.”
The boys are launching their sponsorship awareness campaign and are seeking support
from local organisations. They can be contacted through their website, email or
telephone. Please follow their Facebook page and keep up to date with their training
and latest news.
Website: www.oceanbrothers.co.uk
Facebook: www.facebook.com/oceanbrothers0
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ocean_Brothers
Email: [email protected]
Telephone: 07590 926796
About the BSF
The British Skin Foundation is the only UK charity dedicated to raising funds for skin disease and skin cancer
research. Our unwavering commitment to funding quality research means we won’t stop until we’ve found
cures for common skin problems like eczema and acne through to potential killers like malignant melanoma.
To date we’ve raised £15 million to fund research projects since 1996. www.britishskinfoundation.org.uk.
For further information on the charity please contact Lisa:
[email protected] or call 020 7391 6347